Computerized exercise monitoring system and method for monitoring a user&#39;s exercise performance

ABSTRACT

An exercise monitoring system and method for comparing the present movement of the exercise machine caused by the physical exertion of a user with the user&#39;s past movement of the exercise machine. The system includes an exercise monitoring main unit, an exercise monitoring screen, a portable personal memory module, an exercise machine monitoring device, and an exercise monitoring analyzer. The exercise machine monitoring device measures the movement of the exercise machine and provides data representative thereof. The portable personal memory provides data representative of the user&#39;s past movement of the exercise machine. The exercise monitoring main unit compares the data and generates a pacing signal on the exercise monitoring screen for the user. The user follows the pacing signal to duplicate his previous performance. The exercise monitoring screen discipline the user&#39;s present pace compared to his past pace. The display includes a row of red, yellow and green lights which indicate whether the user is exercising too slowly or too fast. The user can optionally update the portable personal memory with his present performance. The portable personal memory can be transported to provide training on various exercise machines.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 06/848,215, filed on Apr.4, 1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,940.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a computerized exercise monitoring system, anda method for using the system on exercise equipment to provideperformance information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Routine physical exercise has long been extolled by medical authoritiesas essential to good health and longevity. There have been devices whichtell a person exercising on an exercising apparatus the amount ofexercise accomplished by that person. Examples of these are U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,493,485, 4,409,992 and 4,408,183. However, these devices havebeen limited to monitoring current use of the exercise machine. Thesedevices gave no indication of the amount of present exercise activity ascompared to the amount of previous exercise activity accomplished by theuser of the equipment. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,485 thedevice provides a standard predetermined pace for the person to follow.The pace is based on a precalculated exercising profile of another, noton the user's past exercising efforts.

It is important that a person using exercise equipment be aware of howmuch exercise he has accomplished, and of any increase in the amount ofexercise performed over time. It will be helpful if a record can be madeof the user's performance, and later used to compare the presentexercise routine with previous routines to measure the user's progress.The present invention encourages the user to perform a more efficientworkout by comparing each exercise repetition of the exercise machinewith the user's previous best efforts, or with a coach's performance.

A problem with previous computerized exercise monitoring equipment wasthe inability to exercise on various exercise equipment. In previoussystems, the user was forced to continuously use the same machine. Itwould be desirable if a record of the user's performance is stored on aportable memory unit. The portable memory unit would be inserted intothe exercise monitoring unit for each exercise machine. The portablememory unit (personal module) would contain data of a user's previousefforts on the exercise machine. The data on the personal module wouldbe read by the exercise monitoring unit and would compare the presentworkout with the user's previous workout while the user is exercising.The personal module would also store information about previous workoutssuch as date of workout, weight use, exercise repetitions completed, andaverage accuracy of the repetitions. The system would provide a personwith the ability of comparing his workouts with previous workouts. Theuser would progress in his workout compared to his own ability, ratherthan compared to another's workout. The present invention provides sucha system.

Another advantage of this system is its adaptability to various types ofexercise machines. Each exercise machine has an exercise monitoring mainunit and an exercise monitoring screen attached to it. The exercisemonitoring screen constantly displays the user's performance data and acount of the completed repetitions. The exercise monitoring main unitcomputes the users previous pace and monitors his present pace comparedto the previous pace on a display. The display shows graphically whetherthe exercise user is performing the exercise for maximum physicalperformance, based upon the user's previous performance.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anexercise system and method for providing a progressive exercise routinefor a person based on his own ability.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and amethod for providing progressive training on various exercise machines.

It a further object of the present invention to provide a more efficientworkout to the user by comparing each exercise repetition with theuser's previous best effort, or with his past performance.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a pacingsignal for the user based on his own ability.

It is still a further object of the present invention to store theuser's past performances on a portable exercise monitoring personalmodule, so that the user can recall past performances on the exercisingmachine.

It is a further object of the present invention to display dataregarding the user's previous performance so it may be compared topresent performance.

It is a further object to provide an exercise monitoring analyzer toreport to the user progress on his present workout performance.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a user with aportable exercise monitoring personal module which contains the user'sprevious efforts.

A further object of the present invention is to provide to the user withan indication of how to change his rate of exercising to obtain themaximum benefit from the exercise routine.

Another object of the present invention is to compute the primary faultsof the user during his exercise routine and display them in an easilyreadable form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The exercise monitoring system monitors electrical signalsrepresentative of the movement of an exercise machine caused by aphysical exertion of a user. The movement corresponds to the user'sexercise performance. The exercise monitoring system compares theprevent movement of the exercise machine with criteria representative ofthe user's previous exercise performance. A display of the exercisemonitoring system indicates to the user his present exercise performancecompared to his previous exercise performance. The exercise monitoringsystem has the option of storing the user's present performance for useas a past performance.

The exercise monitoring system comprises a monitoring means formeasuring the movement of the exercise machine which corresponds to auser's exercise activity and provides signals representative of thisactivity. A memory means provides signals representative of the user'sprevious exercise activity. An evaluating means coupled to themonitoring means and memory means receives the signals representative ofthe user's present exercise activity and the past signals representativeof the user's previous exercise activity. The evaluating means comparesthe two signals and produces a pacing signal. The pacing signal causes aplurality of light emitting diodes to produce a display for the user.The user follows the display to reproduce his previous workout.

In the illustrated embodiment, the exercise monitoring system is acomputerized exercise monitoring system and method to be used inconjunction with other exercise equipment. The system encourages theuser to perform a more efficient workout by comparing each exerciserepetition with the user's best effort, or with a coach's performance.All workout routines are stored by the system in an exercise monitoringpersonal module, so that graphs, charts and analyses can be printed on aprint-out or plotted on a graph showing a user's progress.

The exercise monitoring system includes five components: an exercisemonitoring main unit; an exercise monitoring screen; a portable exercisemonitoring personal module; an exercise machine sensor and an exercisemonitoring analyzer. It is desirable that one exercise monitoring mainunit and one exercise monitoring screen are used in conjunction with anexercise machine. The exercise monitoring main unit contains amicrocomputer to monitor the user's performance. The user of the machinehas a portable exercise monitoring personal module, about the size of acigarette package, which is inserted into the exercise monitoring mainunit before the user begins his exercise routine. The exercisemonitoring personal module contains information about the user'sprevious workouts on the particular exercise machine, as well as certainpersonal characteristics of the user, including weight, beginning dateof workout, number of workouts, and number of repetitions.

After the exercise monitoring personal module is inserted, the exercisemonitoring main unit displays the user's weight, seat settings for theexercise machine, and the user's past performances on the machine,including the dates of previous workouts, weight use, repetitionscompleted and average accuracy of the repetitions.

While exercising on the machine, the user watches the exercisemonitoring screen so that he may compare each current repetition withhis previous effort. The exercise monitoring screen is a display screenmounted in a position for easy viewing by the user while exercising. Theexercise monitoring screen comprises a row of red, yellow and greenlights which indicate whether the user is exercising too slowly, or toofast, compared to his previous rate. A separate red light turns on whenthe user rests between repetitions to discourage resting. A separategreen light turns on at the height of each repetition to encourage theuser to pause momentarily to gain maximum benefit from the workout.After each repetition, the exercise monitoring screen displays anaccuracy number computed by the exercise monitoring main unit whichrepresents how closely the current repetition matches the user'spersonal best effort. Also displayed is the number of completedrepetitions.

If a user exercises on a exercise machine equipped with a exercisemonitoring main unit and exercise monitoring screen, but does not use anexercise monitoring personal module, the exercise monitoring main unitcomputes the user's performance as compared with the performance of acoach or other person whose data are stored in the exercise monitoringmain unit memory. The exercise monitoring main unit computes the user'sperformance and displays the information on the exercise monitoringscreen, just as if the exercise monitoring personal module were in use.

A workout record is the information gathered by the exercise monitoringmain unit during a user's workout on a particular exercise machine. Theworkout records are stored in the user's exercise monitoring personalmodule. The exercise monitoring analyzer converts the exerciseinformation from the workout record into printed plots and graphs toprovide a visual progress guide. The printout provided by the exercisemonitoring analyzer identifies the particular exercise machine, the dateof the workout, the number of repetitions completed, the weight used andthe average of the accuracy numbers received for a set of repetitions.The exercise monitoring analyzer also computes the user's primaryfaults, such as exercising too fast or too slowly, resting betweenrepetitions, or failing to pause at the height of each repetition.

The exercise monitoring system also includes a universal exercisemonitoring sensor, which senses the motion of the exercise machine. Thesensor is comprised of a plastic or metal disc attached to a basemounted reel with a built in steel spring. The disc has a series ofequally spaced holes on its circumference. A steel cable with a metalring on one end is wrapped around the reel and securely fastened. Themetal ring is connected to the weight stack or the moving part of theexercise machine. As a steel cable is pulled off the reel, the discrotates with the holes interrupting the infrared beams from the outputof two infrared detectors situated on each side of the disc. Theinfrared detectors are spaced at a distance so as to create two squarewaveforms approximately ninety degrees out of phase when the disc isrotated. As the user pushes against the weight stack or other movingpart of the exercise machine, the steel cable attached to the movingpart rotates the reel and the disc attached to the reel. The exercisemonitor monitors the output from these sensors to show the position ofthe moving weight stack.

Also, the infrared detectors can be situated on each side of a chain. Asthe chain is moved, it creates two square waveforms approximately 90°out of phase, which can be measured by the exercise monitoring unit. Inthis manner, the exercise monitoring unit measures the movement of theweight stack resulting from the user's exercise on the machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Those and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent by referring to the following detailed descriptionand accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a basic diagram of the components of the exercisemonitoring system;

FIGS. 2A-B show a detailed circuit diagram of the exercise monitoringmain unit;

FIG. 3 shows a detailed circuit diagram of the exercise monitoringpersonal module;

FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed block diagram for the exercise monitoringscreen;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the exercise monitoring analyzer;

FIG. 6A-E show a detailed diagram of the elements of the exercisemonitoring sensor;

FIG. 7 illustrates the overall monitoring routine of the exercisemonitoring main unit; FIGS. 8A-B show a detailed flow diagram of thelearned routine for the exercise monitoring main unit;

FIG. 9 illustrates a detailed flow diagram of the date routine for theexercise monitoring main unit;

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram for the review routine for the exercisemonitoring main unit;

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram for the initialize routine for the exercisemonitoring main unit; and

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram for the update of the chain positionroutine for the exercise monitoring main unit.

DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT A. General Description of theExercise Monitoring System

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows an exercise monitoringsystem 10 adapted for coupling by sensors 20 and 22 to an exercisemachine 30 to receive on lines 123 and 125 signals to be processed andstored in an electrically erasable programmable read only memory EEPROM44 of the exercise monitoring system 10. The exercise monitoring system10 is capable of monitoring the movements of any exercise machine thathas a moving part, such as a chain. The exercise monitoring system 10 iscomprised of the exercise monitoring main unit 100, the exercisemonitoring screen 200, the exercise monitoring analyzer 300, an exercisemonitoring personal module 24 and a printer/plotter 18.

1. Exercise Monitoring Main Unit

The exercise monitoring unit 100 monitors the movements of the exercisemachine 30 via lines 123 and 125, connected to sensors 20 and 22,respectively, Sensors 20 and 22 produce an output based upon thedisplacement of weights 32 of the exercise machine 30. The exercisemachine consists of chains and gears, so that during use, when a handleor bar is displaced, a corresponding amount of displacement is made inthe weights 32. The weights 32 can be increased by the addition of otherweights 34.

In most typical exercise machines, the weights are labeled so that thelightest weight is A, the next weight added is B, and so on. Thus, theamount of weight used on each exercising machine is known by referringto the letter of the weight used. For example, if four weights are used,the letter D would correspond to four weights on the weight stack.

The sensors 20 and 22 each consist of an infrared emitter and aninfrared detector. The infrared emitter emits infrared light which isdetected by the infrared detector. The infrared detector outputs asignal, depending upon the amount of infrared light in impinging uponit. This signal is a TTL compatible signal fed to the exercisemonitoring main unit 100. When the user begins a repetition, the cable26 connected to a metal ring 28 is attached to the chain 36 of theexercising machine 30. When the user starts the repetition, the forceapplied to a bar or handle is translated to movement in the chain 36.This movement is transferred to the cable 26, which causes disc 38 withholes 40 in it to rotate. The rotation of the disc causes a pulse signalfrom the detector of sensors 20 and 22 to be sent to the exercisemonitoring main unit 100. From these pulse signals, the exercisemonitoring main unit computes the movement of the weights and the rateof movement of the weights. For a better understanding of theconfiguration and functional cooperation of the components describedbriefly above, attention is directed to FIG. 6 of the drawings whereinthe respective components of the sensors are illustrated in detail.

The exercise monitoring main unit 100 is comprised of a microcomputer122, a membrane switch pad 124, a liquid crystal display 126, anonvolatile random access memory (NOVRAM) 128, a programmable read onlymemory PROM 130, a personal module connector 132, an I/O expander 136, ared LED 138 and a green LED 139. The microcomputer 122 receives the TTLlevel signal output from the sensors 20 and 22 through lines 123 and125. The microcomputer 122 executes the exercise monitoring main unitsoftware contained in PROM 130. It is understood that microcomputer 122has its own internal clock, as is well known in the art, for controllingits internal operation as well as its interfacing with other elements ofthe exercise monitoring system 10.

The microcomputer 122 also has an internal RAM contained in themicrocomputer 122 itself. The internal RAM of the microcomputer 122 isdownloaded and uploaded from the NOVRAM 128. The microcomputer 122 iscoupled by a control bus 127 and data bus 144 to each of the PROM 130and to the NOVRAM 128. The PROM 130 is adapted to store the instructionswhich the microcomputer 122 executes to detect and recognize the inputsensor signals, to process these signals, and to store the processedsignals in designated areas of the NOVRAM 128. The programs or routinesstored in the PROM 130 are explained generally with respect to FIG, 7through FIG. 9.

The microcomputer 122 also outputs to the liquid crystal display 126through bus 142. The liquid crystal display provides the user with anindication of the particular mode of operation of the microcomputer 122.The mode of operation of microcomputer 122 can be changed via operatorinput through the membrane switch pad 124. The membrane switch pad 124is connected through connector CON 7 to an I/O expander 136, and to themicrocomputer 122 via bus 156. The microcomputer 122 also controls theillumination of LED 138 and LED 139 through bus 134 and I/O expander136. If the exercise monitoring personal module 24 is not physicallyconnected to connector 132 the microcomputer 122 illuminates the red LED138. This notifies the user, that the exercise monitoring personalmodule 24 is not present, or that the physical insertion of the exercisemonitoring personal module 24 into the exercise monitoring main unit 20is faulty. When the exercise monitoring personal module 24 is physicallyconnected to the connector 132, the microcomputer 122 senses theconnection and illuminates the green LED 139 to signify to the user thatthe exercise monitoring personal module 24 is properly connected. Theconnector 132 is connected to the data bus 144 of the microcomputer 122in a manner well known in the art. The control bus 144 is also connectedto the connector 132, so that when the exercise monitoring personalmodule 24 is connected to the connector 132, the microcomputer 122 caninput and output data to the exercise monitoring personal module 24.

The exercise monitoring personal module 24 contains an electricallyerasable programmable read only memory EEPROM 44 to receive and storepersonal data of the user. Each user of the exercise machine 30 has anexercise monitoring personal module 24. The exercise monitoring personalmodule 24 contains the data necessary for the microcomputer 122 tocompute the performance characteristics of the user for the particularexercise machine 30. Because of the universal nature of the exercisemonitoring unit 100 and the sensors 20 and 22, the exercise monitoringmain unit 100 can be connected to any exercise machine. It is importantto note that the exercise monitoring personal module 24 contains userdata for every exercise machine available. The personal module may beremoved from the exercise monitoring main unit 100 connected to aparticular exercise machine, and inserted into another exercisemonitoring main unit connected to a different exercise machine. Theexercise monitoring main unit software from operator input determinesthe correct performance data for the user on the particular exercisingmachine.

If the user's current repetition is nearly identical to the user's besteffort, the exercise monitoring screen displays an accuracy number of99, which means the user is within 99 percent of duplicating hisprevious personal best effort. The exercise monitoring main unitcomputes an accuracy number which reflects when a user exercises toofast or too slow, rests between repetitions, or fails to pause at theheight of the repetition. The greater the faults, the lower the accuracynumber. The repetition count advances only if the exercise monitoringmain unit determines that the weight has traveled to within 87.5% of thedistance recorded in the user's previous effort.

2. Exercise Monitoring Personal Module

The heart of the system is the exercise monitoring personal module 24.The exercise monitoring personal module 24 contains data for the user ofthe personal module. The data contains the best effort or pastperformance of the user for each exercise machine he has previouslyused. When a user inserts the exercise monitoring personal module 24into the exercise monitoring main unit connector 132, the microcomputer122 reads the user's personal database stored on the personal module 24for the particular exercise machine, and displays the user's weightsettings and seat settings for the particular exercise machine. Throughthe switch pad 124, the user requests a display of his past performanceson the particular exercising machine, including the dates of hisworkouts, weight used, repetitions completed and average accuracy of therepetitions. The user can also store a particular exercising routineperformed on the exercise machine in the exercise monitoring personalmodule 24. In this manner, a user continuously updates the exercisemonitoring personal module 24 with his best or past performance.

The personal module 24 is then physically removed from the exercisemonitoring main unit 100 upon completion of the particular exercisingroutine for this exercise machine. The user then carries the personalmodule 24 to another exercise machine and insert his personal module 24into the exercise monitoring main unit connected to that exercisemachine. The personal database for the user on this machine is alsostored on the personal module 24. When the user completes an exercisingroutine on the machine, he then continues to the next machine. Uponcompleting a set of exercise routines on several different exercisemachines, the user then carries his personal module 24 to the exercisemonitoring analyzer unit 300 for analysis.

3. Exercise Monitoring Screen

The microcomputer 122 of the exercise monitoring main unit 100 isconnected to the exercise monitoring screen 200 by bus 140. The exercisemonitoring screen 200 includes an LED display 202, an I/O expander 204,an liquid crystal display controller 206, and an LCD display 206. TheI/O expander 204 of the exercise monitoring screen 200 is one typicallyused in interfacing microcomputers, and is known to those of ordinaryskill in the art. The microcomputer 122 addresses the LED display 202and LCD display 208 through the I/O expander 204. The I/O expander 204is directly connected to the LED display 202. The LED display includes arow of red, yellow and green lights. The I/O expander 204 is alsoconnected to an LCD controller 206 which energizes the LCD display 208.The LCD display 208 displays the repetition and accuracy numbersrepresentative of the exercising performance of the user. The exercisemonitoring main unit 100 calculates performance factors of therepetitions of the user. The performance factors include the rate ofexercising and the number of repetitions. The rate of exercising iscalculated in the microcomputer 122 and transferred to the LED display202 of the exercise monitoring screen 200. The LED display 202 includesa row of red, yellow and green LEDs to indicate whether the exerciserate of the user is too slow, too fast or equal to the best or pastperformance as read from the user's exercise monitoring personal module24. In addition to the row of red, yellow and green LEDs, there is a redLED to discourage resting, which is illuminated by the software ofmicrocomputer 122, and a green LED which turns on at the height of eachrepetition to encourage the user to pause momentarily. The performanceof the user is recorded in the microcomputer 122 and used to calculatethe accuracy number.

The accuracy number represents how closely the present repetition of theuser matches a previously stored repetition on the exercise monitoringpersonal module 24. If the repetition is nearly identical to the user'sbest efforts, the exercise monitoring screen displays an accuracy numberof 99, which means the user is within 99 percent of duplicating hisprevious personal best effort. The exercise monitoring main unitcomputes an accuracy number, which is lower when a user exercises toofast or too slow, rests between repetitions, or fails to pause at theheight of the repetition. The repetition count advances only if theexercise monitoring main unit determines that the weight has traveled towithin 87.5% of the distance recorded in the user's previous efforts.

4. Exercise Monitoring Analyzer

The exercise monitoring analyzer 300 is comprised of a microcomputer302, ROM (306), RAM (308), connector 310, I/O connector 316, andkeyboard 320. The microcomputer 302 has its own internal clock, as iswell known in the art, to control its internal operation as well as itsinterfacing with other elements of the unit 10. The microcomputer 302 iscoupled with an instruction data (I/D) bus 304 through each of a ROM 306to the RAM 308. The ROM 306 is adapted to store the instructions whichthe microcomputer 302 executes, to process the data from the personalmodule 24, and to analyze this data and output it to the printer/plotterunit 18. The personal module 24 is electrically connected to themicrocomputer 302 via connector 310. The microcomputer 302 reads thedata in the personal module 24 through control bus 312, and accesses thedata in the personal module 24 via data bus 314. The microcomputer 302analyzes the user's personal data on the personal module 24 and outputsa workout record to the printer/plotter 18 connected to the I/Oconnector 316 via bus 318. The exercise monitoring analyzer 300 convertsthe exercise information from the workout records into printed plots andgraphs to provide a visual progress guide for the user. The printoutprovided by the exercise monitoring analyzer 300 identifies eachexercise machine, the date of the workout, the number of repetitionscompleted, the exercising machine weight used, and the average in theaccuracy numbers received for a set of repetitions. The exercisemonitoring analyzer 300 also analyzes the user's primary faults, such asexercising too fast or too slowly, resting between repetitions orfailing to pause at the height of each repetition.

B. Detailed Description of the Exercise Monitoring Main Unit

1. Exercise Monitoring Main Unit

Referring to FIGS. 2A-B there is shown a detailed circuit diagram of theexercise monitoring main unit 100. The microcomputer 122 foundprincipally in FIG. 1 and 2 may illustratively take the form of amicroprocessing unit manufactured by INTEL under their designation8039H. The microcomputer 122 in conjunction with address latch 140receives and transmits data via its address bus 142, the data bus 144,and high order address lines 146. For clarity in the figures some of thelines and buses are duplicated. The sensors 20 and 22 transfer data toand from the microcomputer 122 via ports P10 through P13 through bus143. Bus 143 contains the sensor lines 124 and 126. The PROM 130 maytake the form of a memory device as manufactured by INTEL under theirdesignation 2764. The data bus 144 connects the data ports DB7-DBO ofthe microprocessor 122 to the data ports 0₀ -0₇ of PROM 130. The addressbus 142 of microprocessor 122 is connected to the low order addressports ADDR0-ADDR7 of the PROM 130. The high order address line 146 ofthe microprocessor 122 is connected to the high order address portsADDR8-ADDR11 of the PROM 130. When the EPROM 130 is addressed,instructions of the microprocessor programs are read out via the dataports 0₀ -0₇ and transmitted via data bus 144 to the microcomputer 122.

The NOVRAM 128 is comprised of two memory elements, a volatile elementand non volatile element, as manufactured by XICOR under theirdesignation X2212. The low order lines of the data bus 144 are connectedto the data ports I01 through I04 to the NOVRAM 128. The address bus 142is connected to the address ports ADDR0-ADDR7 of NOVRAM 128. As shown inFIG. 2A, addresses are applied via the address bus 142 to the elementsof the NOVRAM 128 and of the EPROM 130 to address one of the elementsand a selected location therein. Microcomputer 122 generates aparticular location within one of the elements of the EPROM 130 or theNOVRAM 128 to be addressed. The addresses are selected by an addresslatch 140, whose inputs are taken from the port ALE and DB0-DB7 of themicrocomputer 122. The address latch 140 provides output signals on theaddress bus 142 to each of the aforementioned elements to address asingle location therein. The microcomputer 122 generates a signal on theprogram store enable PSEN to select the EPROM 130, for program input. Toselect the NOVRAM 128, the microcomputer activates the RD line, WR line,and port P17. The write line (WR) and the read line (RD) are inputs to aNAND gate 148. The output is activated on both lines going high. Theoutput enables a second NAND gate 150. Port 17 provides an invertedinput through inverter 152 to the NAND gate 150. When strobed, the writeline, read line, and port 17 select NOVRAM 128 for input and output.

The recall port and store port of the NOVRAM 128 perform a specialfunction for the NOVRAM 128. The NOVRAM 128 comprises two identicalmemory elements. One memory element is nonvolatile and does not changeits state upon a power failure. The other element is volatile and can bechanged. When the store function of the NOVRAM is activated, thenonvolatile element is copied to the volatile element. When the storefunction is activated the volatile element is copied to the nonvolatileelement. The operating characteristics of the exercise machine connectedto the exercise monitoring main unit is stored in the nonvolatileelement of the NOVRAM 128. When a power failure occurs or on power upthe nonvolatile memory of NOVRAM 128 is copied to the volatile elementof the NOVRAM 128. If the particular operating characteristics of theexercise machine are changed, then the store line is activated. Twocriterion accomplish store line activation. First the microcomputer 122raises the store line, and a lockout switch 154 is simultaneouslyactivated by the user. The lockout switch 154 prevents the configurationstored in the NOVRAM 128 from inadvertent change.

The personal module 24 is connected to the microprocessor 122 by afemale connector 132. An address latch 149 is connected between the databus 144 and the personal module 24. Latch 149 is enabled by the ports RDand P27 of the microprocessor. When the personal module is connectedinto the female connector 132 the control lines, address lines, and datalines are available for the microcomputer 122 to read or write to thepersonal module 24, in a manner well known in the art.

The data bus 144 couples a 16 by 2 alphanumeric liquid crystal display126 to the microprocessor 122. Data from the microcomputer 122 in theform of 32 ASCII characters are output to the liquid crystal display forobservation by a user. The ports designated write enable and P16,control the write enable and chip select of the LCD display 126.

Referring to FIG. 2B, there is shown a detail circuit diagram of the I/OExpander 136 and the membrane switchpad 124. The ports designated P20 toP23, P14, and PROG connect the I/O expander 136 to the microcomputer 122through control bus 156. Port P14 enables I/O expander 136 by beingconnected to the chip select of I/O expander 136. The I/O expander 136illustratively takes the form of a I/O expander manufactured by INTELunder their designation 8243. The I/O expander 136 contains four I/Oports designated as P40-P43, P50-P53, P60-P63 and P70-P73 which serve asan extension of the microcomputer 122 I/O bus. All communication betweenthe I/O expander 136 and the microcomputer 122 occurs over P20 to P23.The timing is provided by an output pulse on the program pin (PROG) ofthe microcomputer 122. Each transfer consists of two four bit nibbles,the first nibble containing the port address and the second nibblecontaining the four bits of data. The selection of a port and theinput/output condition is selected by ports 20 through 23. For example,if port 21 and port 22 are both low then ports 40- 43 on I/O expander136 are selected. If port 23 and port 20 are both low a read instructionis specified. In this manner, the I/O expander 136 can communicate tofour bi-directional I/O ports.

The membrane switch pad 124 is connected to ports 40-43 and ports 50-53on the I/O expander 136. The red LED 138 is connected through the I/Oexpander 136 through port 60 and the green LED 139 is connected to port61. The green LED 139 signifies that the personal module 24 is insertedinto the microcomputer 122. The red LED signifies the personal module 24is not connected.

A buzzer 158 is connected to the I/O expander 136 via port 70. The userinputs through the membrane switchpad 124 to the microprocessor 122.When the user activates a certain switchpad, the microcomputer 122 readsthe input from the I/O expander 136. The microcomputer 122 correspondsto the input by activating the buzzer 158. The recall line and storeline of the NOVRAM 128 are connected respectively to the I/O expander'sport 72 and port 71. The activation of the recall line 160 copies theNOVRAM's 128 nonvolatile memory to the volatile memory. The store line162 and the lockout switch 154 when activated, copies volatile memory tothe nonvolatile memory element.

2. The Exercise Monitoring Personal Module.

Referring to FIG. 3 there is shown a detailed electrical diagram of theexercise monitoring personal module 24. The personal module 24 comprisesa connector CON 9, an address latch 42, and an electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory EEPROM 44. The EEPROM may illustrativelytake the form of a memory element manufactured by XICOR under theirdesignation 2816. The connector 40 allows a personal module 24 to becarried between exercise monitoring units and plugged into any exercisemonitoring main unit. When the personal module 24 is inserted into amain unit, the address data bus 144 of the microcomputer 122 isconnected to the address latch 42 and to the data bus connectors 0₀ -0₇of EEPROM 44 through the connector 40. The control bus 50 connects thecontrol lines from connector 40 to the control ports for the EEPROM 44and the address latch 42. The EEPROM 44 upon being addressed, reads dataout via the data ports 0₀ -0₇ and transmits it to the microcomputer 122.The electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) 44 is anonvolatile memory and can be erased only upon an appropriate electricalsignal from the microcomputer 122. In this manner, the data stored inthe memory 44 can not be erased unless the personal module is connectedto the exercise monitoring main unit 100. Thus the data for the userremains intact while the user transports the personal module or leavesit on site.

3. The Exercise Monitoring Screen.

Referring to FIG. 4 there is shown a detailed electrical circuit of theexercise monitoring screen. An I/O expander 204 connects the I/O bus 140to the microcomputer 122. In a manner as described before in theprevious I/O expander, the I/O expander 204 communicates through fourdifferent I/O ports comprised of four I/O lines each. Ports P60 throughP63 are connected to a four by ten decoder 202. The four by ten decoderICI4 decodes the four ports into 9 output lines 210. The 9 output lines210 of the decoder are connected to a corresponding LED in the LEDdisplay 202. The LED display 202 comprises a row of LEDs for displayingthe user's exercise rate performance. The microcomputer 122 controls theillumination of each LED via the I/O expander 204 and the four by tendecoder 202. The illumination of an LED is controlled by themicrocomputer 122 software. If the user is performing the exerciseroutine at a rate equal to the previous exercise routine stored on thepersonal module 24, the green LEDs are illuminated. A red LED whichsignifies the user is performing too slow, through a yellow LED to aseries of green LEDs, yellow LEDs, and red LEDs. The last red LEDactivates when the user exercises too fast. If the rate is slow theyellow LED is lit. If the rate is fast the yellow LED on the oppositeside is lit. In this manner, the user compares his present performancewith his previous performance. The display 202 also has a resume LED 201and a resting LED 203. The resting LED 203 illuminates when the userrests too long between repetitions. The resume LED 201 illuminates atthe height of the repetition after the user pauses.

The I/O expander 204 is also connected to a liquid crystal displaycontroller 206 which is illustratively shown as an ICM7211AMIPL asmanufactured by INTERSIL Corporation. The LCD controller 206 controlsthe liquid crystal display 208, which displays the accuracy numbers andthe repetition rate of the user on the exercise machine.

4. The Exercise Monitoring Analyzer.

Referring to FIG. 5 there is shown an electrical diagram of the exercisemonitoring analyzer 300. The exercise monitoring analyzer 300 comprisesa microprocessor 302 such as that made by IBM and designated as an IBMPC; a personal module connector 310, a keyboard 320, and a I/O connector316. The personal module 24 physically and electrically connects to theexercise monitoring analyzer 300 through connector 310. Themicroprocessor 302 receives and transmits data by its address data bus314 and control bus 312 to the memory personal module 24. Themicrocomputer 302 reads the data from the personal module 24, andthrough instructions and data in its program memory 306, computes chartsand graphs. They are displayed on the printer/plotter 18 through I/Oconnector 316. In addition to the output on a printer/plotter 18, akeyboard 318 is available for the user to insert instructions and datainto the microprocessor 302. The exercise monitoring analyzer softwarecomputes performance characteristics desired by the user from the data.

5. The Exercise Monitoring Sensor.

Referring to FIGS. 6A-E, there are shown the elements and a detailedelectrical circuit that comprise the exercise monitoring sensors 20 and22. Referring to FIG. 6A, the sensor 20 comprises an infrared emitter 56and an infrared detector 54. Sensor 22 comprises an infrared emitter 50and detector 52. The sensor 20 and 22 are connected to the microcomputer122 through bus 143. The bus 143 includes output lines 124 and 126, andpower lines to operate the sensors. A TTL level output signal generatesfrom the detector when infrared light from a emitter strikes it.

Referring now to FIG. 6B there is shown a construction of the sensors tomeasure the rotation of a disc 38 having a plurality of equally spacedholes 40 along the perimeter. The sensors are mounted so that when anopening passes between an emitter and detector, infrared light from theemitter strikes the surface of the detector. Referring to FIG. 6C, theplastic or metal disc 38 is fixed onto the reel 58 mounted on base 64. Ametal ring 28 is connected by a screw or other method to the chain of aweight stack or other moving part of the exercise machine. As the cable26 is pulled off the reel 58 the attached disc 38 rotates clockwise withthe eight openings 40 interrupting the infrared beams of emitters 56 and50 such that the outputs of the infrared detectors 52 and 54 oscillateas shown in FIG. 6D. A built in spring in the base mounted reel 58 windsthe cable 62 back onto the reel 58 causing disc 38 to rotatecounterclockwise. The sensors 20 and 22 are mounted so that a clockwiserotation of 38 creates two waveforms 90 degrees out of phase betweensensor 20 and 22. The counterclockwise rotation creates two waveforms270 degrees out of phase. The exercise monitoring main unit continuouslymonitors output of the sensors 20 and 24 to keep track of the positionof the moving weight stack. A clockwise rotation creates a sequence ofTTL outputs like

    10 11 01 00 10 11 01 00 10                                 State (1)

A counterclockwise rotation creates a sequence of outputs such as

    01 11 10 00 01 11 10 00 01                                 State (2)

When the sequence of TTL outputs go to zero (00) in the clockwiserotation, the exercise monitoring main unit increments a positioncounter to signify that the weight stack has moved in a particulardirection, a corresponding counterclockwise rotation decrements theposition counter when the sequence of outputs go to zeros (00). In thismanner, the exercise monitoring main unit continuously monitors themovement of the weight stack and can measure the rate of the weightstack and its exact location.

Referring to FIG. 6E, there is shown another embodiment of the sensoroperation for directly measuring the movement of a chain 66 connected toa weight stack. The chain 66 includes links separated by a distance X.The sensors 20 and 22 are contained in a sensor block 68. The sensorblock is connected to the frame of the exercise machine. The sensorblock 68 receives the chain 66 into slot 70 in such a manner that thechain 66 can move freely through the sensor block 68. When the chain 66moves, the links interrupt the light between the emitters and detectorsof sensors 20 and 22. The distance Y is calculated to produce twowaveforms 90° out of phase between sensors 20 and 22, when chain 66,with links separated by distance X, moves perpendicular to the line ofsight of sensors 20 and 22. The sensors thus produce an output asdescribed before when the chain moves. In this manner, the sensorsdetect the movements of the chain.

6. Flow Chart of Exercise Monitoring System.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown a high level flow diagram of themethod in which the exercise monitoring system of this inventionoperates to record and measure the exercising data in a form thatintelligibly informs the user of his exercising progress. Initially instep 350 the user presses the start button on the exercise monitoringmain unit. Thereafter in step 351, initialization routines are performedto begin the operation of the exercise monitoring main unit.Subsequently in step 352, the changed position as measured by theexercise monitoring sensors is measured. The software then continues tostep 354, in which the membrane switch pad is monitored to determinewhether any switch is pressed. If a switch is pressed, a service requestof action is made operational depending upon which action is requested.

The service requested action results from the pressing of the datebutton, the learn switch, the review switch, or the decrementing orincrementing of a seat selection, or the decrementing or incrementing ofa weight selection. The changing of the seat selection corresponds tothe seat position on the exercise machine. The weight selectioncorresponds to the number of weights selected by the user in hisexercising routine. For example, if the user is selecting three weightsthe user will input into the exercise monitoring unit the letter C whichcorresponds to three weights. Similarly, a seat selection will have acorresponding letter to signify the position of the seat.

As shown is step 354, if no switch is hit or if a service requestedaction is completed, the routine continues to step 358, in which theexercise monitoring screen is updated. The exercise monitoring screendisplays the accuracy number and the rate in which the exerciserepetition is being completed. The accuracy number, which appears on theexercise monitoring screen, represents how closely the user's repetitionmatches the personal best efforts or previous effort of the user, as hasbeen stored in the personal module. If a completed repetition nearlyduplicates the best efforts the accuracy number is 99 which signifiesthat the best personal effort of the user is within 99 percent ofduplication. The factors which lower the accuracy number are exercisingtoo fast or too slow, resting, and not pausing at the height of therepetition. In addition to the accuracy number display, a repetitioncount is displayed. The repetition count is incremented by one when thedistance traveled by the weight is 87.5% of that distance recorded inthe user's previous effort.

In addition to displaying an accuracy number and repetition number theexercising monitoring screen also has a horizontal row of red, yellowand green to indicate the rate of exercise. While the user exercises ared light on the exercise monitoring screen turns on when the memberrests in between repetitions to discourage resting, and a green lightturns on at the height of each repetition to encourage the user to pausemomentarily. The row of red, yellow and green lights indicate whetherthe user is exercising too slow, too fast, or just right. The routinethen continues to step 360 in which the exercise monitoring main unitdetermines if a repetition has been completed. If not, the exercisemonitoring main unit updates the chain position and repeats theprocedure beginning with step 352. If the user has completed arepetition the routine continues to step 362. In step 362, the exercisemonitoring unit calculates the accuracy number as has been describedbefore and displays the accuracy number for the user. After the accuracynumber has been displayed, the system is initialized for the nextrepetition in step 364. The procedure then begins again as step 352.

7. Detail Flow Diagram of the Learn Routine.

Referring to FIGS. 8A-B, there are shown a detailed flow chart of theexercise monitoring main unit software that is implemented on thepressing of the learn switch on the exercise monitoring switchpad. Thelearn switch is used for storing the exercise routine into the personalmodule or NOVRAM, if a personal module is not present. Upon pressing thelearn switch, in step 400, the software determines if a personal moduleis present in step 402. If the personal module 24, is not present theexercise monitoring main unit displays a machine name on the exercisemonitoring main unit LCD display, as shown in step 404. If this is themachine that the exercise monitoring main unit is attached, the userstores the machine identification as shown in steps 406, 408 and 410. Ifthe exercise monitoring main unit is not attached to the exercisemachine shown in the LCD display of the main unit, the operator uses theincrement and decrement switches to increment and decrement a RAMcounter, which points to the machine name list as shown in 408. Theroutine then begins agains at step 404 in which the exercise monitoringmain unit displays the new machine name in the format. When the correctexercise machine is displayed in the LCD display, the user then pressesstore as shown in step 408. The exercise monitoring main unit thenplaces the machine ID into the RAM as shown in step 410. The routinethen continues at step 412, in which the current chain position isupdated. The software then waits for the learn switch to be hit againbefore continuing.

Before the learn is pressed, the person who is to perform the exerciseroutine must get into the starting position, as shown in step 414. Whenthe person is in the starting position, the routine then begins again at412 to update the current chain position. When the learn switch is hitas shown in step 416, the exercise monitoring operating software storesthe current chain position in the RAM as an offset starting position asshown in step 418. The software, then continues to step 420, in whichthe current chain position counter is updated. If the current chainposition counter has changed by four as shown in step 422, the amount oftime used to travel through four counts is computed, as shown in step424. In this manner, the rate of exercise is determined for the user. Ifthe chain position is not changed by four, the current chain positioncounter is read until the change by four is accomplished. In step 424,the amount of time used to travel these four counts is stored. Theprocedure then continues to step 426, to determine whether the learnrepetition is complete. If the learned repetition is not complete, theupdate current chain position is again monitored as previouslydescribed. If the repetition is complete, the procedure continues tostep 428, where it waits until the user presses the store switch. If theuser does not press the store switch, the system continues the learnrepetition, cycle as step 426. When the store switch is hit, step 428,the data in the internal RAM of the microcomputer 122, is down loaded tothe NOVRAM and waits for the start switch. In this manner, a coach or astandard performance is stored in the NOVRAM so that a user can comparehis exercising routine to the coach's or another person's performance.

Referring back to step 400, if the learn switch is pressed and apersonal module is present the system begins operation at step 403 asshown in FIG. 8B. This signifies that the user is going to store intothe personal module an exercise performance rate in which he will latercompare his future exercising routine. The current chain position in theRAM is stored as the personal offset or starting position as shown instep 405. The routine then continues in step 440, in which the currentchain position counter is updated, if the current chain counter ischanged by four as shown by step 442, the system goes to step 444, inwhich the amount of time used to travel four counts is recorded. If thecurrent chain position counter is not changed by four the routine,cycles back to step 440 to update the current chain position again.After the time to travel the four counts has been determined, therepetition cycle continues again at step 440, as shown in step 446. Inthis manner, the chain position is constantly monitored as the userexercises and his rate of exercise is stored in the RAM of the exercisemonitoring main unit. Upon completion of the learn repetition cycle thestore switch is pressed as shown in step 448. When the store switch ispressed, the internal RAM data of the microcomputer 122 is down loadedto the personal module 24. In this method, the efforts of the user forthis particular repetition are stored in the personal module forcomparison to future performance of the user's repetitions.

8. Detailed Flow Diagram of the Date Routine.

Referring to FIG. 9 there is shown the detailed diagram of the dateroutine. Upon the pressing of the date switch as shown in step 500, theexercise monitoring main unit displays the date as month/day as shown instep 502. If a first increment switch stationed above the word "weight"is pressed the month is incremented as shown in steps 504 and 506. If afirst decrement switch below the work "weight" is pressed the month isdecremented as shown in steps 508 and 510. If a second increment switchabove the word "seat" is pressed, the day is incremented as shown insteps 512 and 514. If a second decrement switch below the word "seat" ispressed, the day is decremented as shown in steps 516 and 518. At thecompletion, if the store switch is hit as shown in step 520, the newmonth and day are stored in the NAVROM as shown in step 522.

9. Detailed Flow Diagram of the Review Routine.

Referring now to FIG. 10 there is shown the detailed flow diagram of thereview routine. Beginning in step 600 the review switch is pressed. Theexercise monitoring main unit then determines if a personal module ispresent, as shown in step 602. If one is not present the routine exits;if one is present the routine continues to step 604. In step 604, thelast workout record stored for the machine on which the exercisemonitoring main unit is attached is displayed. The display is in theform of date, number of repetitions, weight used and average accuracy.If the review switch is pressed again, as shown in step 606, the workoutrecord previous to the current one is displayed, step 610. If instead ofthe review switch being pressed in step 606, the next switch is pressed,as shown is step 608, the display workout record stored after the onecurrently being displayed is shown, step 612. The routine continuesdisplaying workout records until the start switch is pressed again.

10. Initialize Routines.

Referring now to FIG. 11 there is shown a detail flow diagram of theinitialize routines. Beginning in step 700, the internal RAM of the mainunit is cleared and the exercise monitoring screen display is blankedout. The exercise parameters from the particular exercise machine arerecalled from the NOVRAM and placed into the internal RAM of themicrocomputer of the exercise monitoring main unit as shown in step 702.The routine continues at step 704, where it is determined if a personalmodule is present. If a personal module is present, the personalexercise parameters from the personal module are recalled and they areplace in the internal RAM of the microcomputer of the exercisemonitoring main unit, as shown in step 706. The weight and seat settingslast used on this exercise machine for this particular user aredisplayed on the exercise monitoring main units display. If a personalmodule is not present, as shown in step 704 the display shows a standardexercise name on the display unit on the main unit, as shown in step710. This concludes the end of the initialize routine.

11. Routine To Update The Chain Position.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown a detailed flow diagram toupdate the chain position. The chain position is updated by sampling apair of sensors. For some exercise machines an additional pair ofsensors are required. The software is written to accomodate a secondpair of sensors, if they are required. Sampling of the first pair ofsensors is accomplished by sampling each detector lines. If the firstdetector line is high this results in a "1", and if low, a result of "0"is obtained. The second detector is sampled in the same manner. Wheneach detector line is sampled, it results in a state of 00, 01, 10, or11. Since the sensors are 90° out of phase, a 00 can not follow a 11,only a 01 or a 10 can begin or follow a 00. The routine looks for a 00to either increment or decrement the counter for the pair of sensors.The software thus checks the before and after state of the 00 transitionstate to determine whether to increment or decrement the counter. It isimportant to note, that the routine goes through and samples each sensoronly once and then exits. The software of the microcomputer is very muchfaster than the slow moving chain, so that when the software samples thesensors again, the microcomputer has not missed any transition states.

In step 800, the microcomputer for the exercise monitoring main unitinputs the data for the first pair of sensors, which in this particularembodiment are sensors 20 and 22. The microcomputer then determines thestatus of the sensors to see whether the status of the sensors is equalto a 11 transition, as shown in step 802. The microcomputer is lookingfor a sequence of TTL outputs from each pair of sensors of 01 00 10,which is an increment, or 10 00 01, which is a decrement. An incrementor decrement signifies the chain has moved a known distance in a knowndirection, and thus the movement in the weight stack can be calculated.A transition of 11 never occurs before a 00 state, and therefore sensorsreading of 11 mean that the next number is not a 00, so the input fromthe sensors is skipped, and the input from the second pair of sensors isread. If the sensor status is 11 the routine continues to 820, to updatethe second pair of sensors. If the first pair of sensors do not have astatus of 11 the routine continues to step 804. This means that thetransition will be at 01, 10 or 00.

In step 804, the microcomputer determines if the status of the sensorsis 00. If the status of the sensors is 00, a flag is set indicating thata 00 condition has occurred on the first pair of sensor as shown in step806 and the routine then continues to step 820. If the first pair ofsensors do not have the status of 00, the routine continues to step 808.In step 808, the first flag is checked to see if it has been set or not.If the flag is not set, meaning no 00 condition has occurred, thecurrent status of the first sensors is stored in the internal RAM asshown in step 810 and the routine continues to step 820. Note that thecurrent status of the sensors will be either a 10 or 01, at step 810.

If the first flag is set as shown in step 808, the routine continues tostep 812. This signifies that the sensors have gone through a 00 state.In step 812, the current status of the first pair of sensors is checkedwith the status of the first pair of sensors before the 00 conditionoccurred. If the current status does equal the current status of thefirst pair of sensors before the 00 condition occurred, the chain hasnot really moved but "bounced". Therefore, the sensor's counter is notincremented or decremented. The first flag is cleared as shown in step816 and the same procedure is repeated for the second sensor, as shownin step 820. In step 814, if the current status of the first pair ofsensors is not equal to the current status of the first pair of sensorbefore the 00 condition occurred, the internal RAM counter isincremented or decremented for the first pair of sensors according tothe direction from the store transition state saved in step 810. Thissignifies that the sensor has made a transition of 01 00 10 and thecounter incremented or the sensor has made a transition of 10 00 10 inwhich case the counter is decremented. The first flag is then cleared asshown in step 816. The routine then continues to step 820.

In step 820, if a second pair of sensors are available, the second pairof sensors are updated in the same way as the first pair of sensors. Theroutine is the same, and is not repeated here for brevity. The routinethen continues to step 822, in which the combined RAM counters for thefirst pair of sensors and the second pair of sensors are combined intothe current chain position. The counters are added together and thendivided by two to get an average. From this average count the currentchain position is quickly, easily and accurately determined.

12. Exercise Monitoring Analyzer Software.

The exercise monitoring analyzer software reads the data from thepersonal module and computes charts and graphs, depending upon theparticular inputs of the user. The exercise monitoring analyzer isprovided to give the user a graphic description of his exercise progresson a particular machine or on a series or machines. The data isdisplayed in a convenient form on a printer/plotter unit 18. Theexercise monitoring analyzer programs may be written in a machinelanguage, or at a higher language using procedures appropriate for theactual microprocessor in use, to execute the required computationsherebefore described. A suitable computer for the exercise monitoringanalyzer is a general purpose microprocessor, such as an IBM PC.Alternatively, one or more microprocessors similar to the IBM PC may besuitably interconnected and programmed to perform the functions requiredof the exercise monitoring analyzer. The programs on the exercisemonitoring analyzer compute the user's performance and faults, andprovide a result of the user's performance in a form more suitable foranalysis, such as tables and graphs.

In summary, the present invention provides a system for monitoring auser's present performance on an exercise machine, and compares his pastperformance to the user's present performance on that particularmachine. The user's past performance is stored on a portable personalmodule memory unit which is transferred from one exercise machine toanother. The invention provides the user with the ability to compare hisperformance on any exercise machine with his previous best personaleffort for that particular machine.

Thus, although the best mode for carrying out the present invention havebeen herein shown and described, it will be apparent that modificationand variation may be made without departing from what is regarded as thesubject matter in the invention.

We claim:
 1. A system for monitoring a user's exercise performance on anexercise machine, said system comprising:monitoring means for monitoringa user's current exercise activity on the exercise machine and forproviding monitor signals representative thereof; memory means forstoring data representative of exercise activity different from saidcurrent exercise activity on the exercise machine and for producingoutput signals representative thereof; evaluating means operably coupledwith said monitoring means and said memory means for receiving andevaluating said monitor signals and said output signals respectively andin response thereto for producing display signals representative of anevaluation of said monitor signals and said output signals with respectto one another; display means for receiving said display signals and, inresponse thereto, for producing a display representative of saidevaluation, said evaluation being thereby representative of said currentexercise activity with respect to said different exercise activity; saidmemory means further comprising a portable, replaceable memory moduledetachable from said system; and means allowing replacement of saidmodule by a different memory module associated with another user.
 2. Thesystem as set forth in claim 1, said different exercise activityincluding exercise activity of the user occuring prior to said currentexercise activity.
 3. The system as set forth in claim 2, said memorymeans being operable for storing data representative of said currentexercise activity for evaluation with respect to some future exerciseactivity on the exercise machine.
 4. A system for monitoring a user'sexercise performance on an exercise machine, said systemcomprising:monitoring means for monitoring a user's current exerciseactivity on the exercise machine and for providing monitor signalsrepresentative thereof; memory means for storing data representative ofexercise activity different from said current exercise activity on theexercise machine and for producing output signals representativethereof; evaluating means operably coupled with said monitoring meansand said memory means for receiving and evaluating said monitor signalsand said output signals respectively and in response thereto forproducing display signals representative of an evaluation of saidmonitor signals and said output signals with respect to one another; anddisplay means for receiving said display signals and, in responsethereto, for producing a display representative of said evaluation, saidevaluation being thereby representative of said current exerciseactivity with respect to said different exercise activity; saidevaluation being a percentage representative of said current exerciseactivity compared to said different exercise activity.
 5. A method ofmonitoring a user's exercise performance on an exercise machinecomprising the steps of:monitoring the user's current exercise activityon the exercise machine and providing monitoring signals representativethereof; providing memory means having data stored thereinrepresentative of exercise activity different from said current activityon the exercise machine and providing memory signals representative ofsaid different exercise activity; evaluating said monitoring signals andsaid memory signals in order to produce an evaluation of said currentexercise activity with respect to said different exercise activity;producing a digital numerical display representative of said evaluation;and providing said memory means a replaceable, portable memory modulereplaceable by another memory module associated with another user. 6.The method as set forth in claim 5, further including the step ofstoring data representative of said current exercise activity in saidmemory means.
 7. The method as set forth in claim 5, said evaluatingstep including the step of providing said evaluation as a percentagecomparison of said current exercise activity with respect to said otherexercise activity.
 8. The method as set forth in claim 5, said displayincluding a numerical digital display.